1870.] WINTER- GARDEN AT WOODSTOCK. 277 



equally maintains the balance between root and branch, must in the end prove 

 of the highest advantage in cultivation. 



It must also be allowed that system is worthy of general acceptation which 

 yields the most satisfying results from the confined space necessarily contained 

 in borders of artificial construction, for under such a condition an immense 

 majority of Vines must exist. There can be little doubt that Vines under the 

 restrictive system may attain a very respectable longevity, provided that a suffi- 

 cient quantity of nutritious food be furnished them. " Quodcunque gratum est 

 palato nutrit,' 1 is an old maxim which may be applied with advantage in rearing 

 specimens of the genus Vitis as well as the genus Homo. 



I wished to have made a few remarks upon the " cowhorn" system of pruning, 

 as " D. T." not inaptly terms it. I consider it a hybrid between extension and 

 restriction, with some of the disadvantages of both, and with the merits of 

 neither; but I have trespassed already too long on your patience, and must beg 

 leave to recur to it at another time. 



A Young Practical Gardener. 



THE WINTER TERRACE - GARDEN AT WOODSTOCK. 



On page 240 of the May No. of ' The Gardener' you state, " The winter terrace- 

 garden at Woodstock is the most unique thing of the sort in the three kingdoms." 

 I (and doubtless many other amateur gardeners) would be gratified by a descrip- 

 tion of this garden. Indeed, the terrace-garden is not sufficiently appreciated by 

 gai'deners ; for it should, wherever practicable, form a leading feature in all pro- 

 perly- laid-out gardens, inasmuch as it becomes, where judiciously placed, a part 

 both of the architecture of the house and a part of the garden, — connecting them 

 in a suitable manner, and forming a harmonious arrangement, which can only be 

 effected satisfactorily where masonry and formal planting can be employed. Few 

 subjects are worse understood than the principles which should guide us in lay- 

 ing out flower-gardens near country residences ; and if the terrace-garden you 

 name is (and doubtless it is) so admirably placed and well arranged, you cannot 

 probably further good gardening more than by a description which will alike 

 benefit myself and other amateurs, and call deserved admiration to the skill and 

 taste of the late Woodstock gardener, Mr M 'Donald. 



Hoyle. W. J. Rawlings. 



[From the columns of our excellent Irish contemporary, ' The Gardener's 

 Record,' we obtain the following description of the winter terrace-garden at 

 Woodstock, and trust it will meet the wishes of our correspondent. — Eds.] 



" In designing the winter-garden, Mr M 'Donald had a distinct eye to the fitness 

 of things ; nothing so fit, certainly, on that particular spot as a winter-garden : 

 and the design and execution of this one at Woodstock deserve the highest credit. 

 The idea was to put something beside the house that would be artistic, and yet 

 harmonious with the surrounding landscape. This has been done, and successfully 

 done. , 



" The winter-garden is perfectly square, and perfectly level. To make the 

 ground level was no small undertaking. The whole of Woodstock, be it remem- 

 bered, is a sloping hill ; many thousands of cartloads of earth had, therefore, to 



